Saturday, October 22, 2016

Are You Operating in Peak Performance Mode?

How many of the following apply to you? Please answer true or false to each item:* I've clearly and visually mapped out my trading process, from the ways I collect information and generate ideas to the ways in which I express those ideas as trades (and as constituents of a portfolio), enter and size positions, manage and adjust positions while they are open, and exit trades. True False

* I've clearly and visually mapped out my personal process to maximize performance, from how I sleep, eat, exercise, socialize, and utilize my non-work time to sustain a peak state. True False* I explicitly keep score in written fashion, not just with my profits and losses, but with each component of my trading and personal processes to see what I've done well and what I can improve in process terms. True False* I use my trading and personal process scores to explicitly identify written goals for improvement and the concrete steps I will commit to in order to achieve these goals. True False* I keep a written scorecard of my performance vis a vis each of my goals to track my progress and, if necessary, make adjustments in how I pursue the goals. True False* I use my scorecard to make ongoing adjustments to my trading and personal processes, so as to turn initial improvements into ongoing habit patterns. True FalseEvery trader goes through losing trades and losing periods. When we're not in peak performance mode, losing money is a fail. In peak mode, losses become First Attempts In Learning. Peak performance mode is our way of committing ourselves to growth and improvement; it's our way of becoming accountable to ourselves. Merely writing in a journal does not ensure deliberate practice and ongoing improvement. We become better by keeping score in process terms and continually refining our personal and professional processes.Further Reading: The One Trading Drill That Can Improve Performance.

About Me

Author of The Psychology of Trading (Wiley, 2003), Enhancing Trader Performance (Wiley, 2006), The Daily Trading Coach (Wiley, 2009), and Trading Psychology 2.0 (Wiley, 2015) with an interest in using historical patterns in markets to find a trading edge. As a performance coach for portfolio managers and traders at financial organizations, I am also interested in performance enhancement among traders, drawing upon research from expert performers in various fields. I took a leave from blogging starting May, 2010 due to my role at a global macro hedge fund. Blogging resumed in February, 2014, along with regular posting to Twitter and StockTwits (@steenbab). I teach brief therapy as Clinical Associate Professor at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, with a particular emphasis of solution-focused "therapies for the mentally well". Co-editor of The Art and Science of Brief Psychotherapies (American Psychiatric Press, 2012). I don't offer coaching for individual traders, but welcome questions and comments at steenbab at aol dot com.